Ten Steps To Overcome Stress and Worrisome Thinking

Updated on August 15, 2010

Happiness May Be Right Around the Corner...

Stress and worry consume can consume our thoughts and feel like a ton of bricks that keep piling up and holding us down. There are many triggers of them like a loss of job, stresses of motherhood, relationship and financial problems. The list can go on and on and on. So what do you do when those negative thoughts come creeping into your mind to ruin your day and sap your happiness? Take these steps to create more positive and joyful living no matter your circumstances.

1. Step back from the thought or situation and Breathe. Breathing will help you to relax and get your racing and anxious heart rate down. Sit down comfortably in a chair if you can and take one big breath in through your nose and feel the oxygen fill your lungs. Gently and slowly breathe out through your mouth. Repeat this as many times as needed until you feel relaxed.

2. Carry around a favorite quote, bible verse or your own affirmation. Write it down on a piece of paper and when times of trouble come take it out and read it. Pretty soon you might have it memorized and it will come to you naturally like an angel saving the day in times of trouble.

3. Take good care of your health. Adding a few more hours of rest in your schedule can make a huge difference in how you feel and deal with things. Also watch the foods your body consumes. Too much sugar or caffeine can cause you to crash later in the day making negative circumstances hard to deal with. Many forms of exercise will lift your mood like jogging and biking. Healthy eating, sleep and exercise all can contribute to a healthy mind and well-being so give them all a try. It will be worth it and you’ll feel and look so good.

4. Daily Meditation or Prayer. There’s a bible verse out there that says to lay all your worries on God. With Meditation or Prayer it is quite possible to do that. If you believe in a higher power and have faith, practicing one or both of these actions is a great way to relieve stress and bad thinking. Set aside a good time each and every day to cast all your worries away.

5. Be Thankful. Sometimes all our negative thinking can make us dive into habits or other outlets that may not be the best thing for us. We think that fancy car or dream job will take our worries away and make us happy but in the end we may be left feeling disappointed. Everyone always seems to want more and more. Wherever you are in life step back and be thankful for whatever it is you do have. Count your blessings. You never know if what you have today will be there tomorrow. Reminding yourself of what you are thankful for will bring you much joy and rid the day of whatever has gone wrong.

6. Smile. Force yourself to put a cheerful grin on your face. If you catch yourself being grumpy and frowning over something just Smile. Even if it’s fake you might trick your body into thinking everything is okay. There have been studies done on this and it has been proven to work! So if worst comes to worst give a Smile a try.

7. Go for a Walk. Maybe you’re in a fight with a spouse or that negative thinking is making you a coach potato with Ben and Jerry’s in hand and your favorite sulking movie on display across from you. Get off that couch and go walking. Walking will help you to clear your mind of frustrations and gain solutions to new ideas and positivity. So feeling down? Go walk it off!

8. Call a friend. Sometimes letting out those frustrations and worries can be a good thing. Find a friend or family member who will listen to you without judgment. They might not be able to fix your problem or feeling but letting out your frustrations and worries can be very cleansing. It’s never good to hold all of it inside. If you don’t have a special someone to talk to go on the internet and join a social networking community or blog. Some sites like fiverr.com have people you pay just to talk to. You might not want to spend $5 but hey it’s cheaper than a $100 dollar visit to a professional.

9. Retrain your thinking. Whenever a negative thought comes into your mind try to turn it around. There have been studies done on this as well that prove it works. You can brainwash yourself to happiness. If the overdue bills are saying “Pay us or your life will be in ruins!!” you can instead say “it’s not the end of the world, I will find a way out of this financial rut and not let this ruin my day”.

10. If your emotions and worries are getting out of control and you are having a very hard time dealing with them professional help should be sought. A pastor, psychologist or counselor will give you the tools and advice you may seek. Happy pills may even be subscribed to help you.

Stress and worries in life are inevitable but how you choose to deal with them is in your hands. You can let them defeat you or you can defeat them and learn how to live with peace, joy and happiness no matter how cloudy your day may be.